integration with word-processing software to automatically insert and
format citations and bibliographies;

formatting of references according to particular bibliographic styles (e.g.
MLA, Chicago, individual journals) and also formats for exporting to other
packages and for data-sharing.

Data types

To a large degree all bibliographic packages worth mentioning will claim to
perform all of these tasks. To a large degree all bibliographic packages have
been designed with a primary focus on the science community (you can tell by,
amongst other things, the range of science-related journals and databases for
which citation styles are included). This is strange given that the humanities
community is usually perceived as a community of book worms. However, the
bottom line is that, whether science, social science, or humanities,
bibliographic databases should have to contend with a mixture of at least the
following printed formats, regardless of content:

monographs

edited works and their essays

journal articles

conference proceedings and their essays

theses

unpublished work

magazine and newspaper articles

public email messages (e.g. from discussion lists)

Web-based publications (Web sites and their parts; electronic journals and
their articles; etc.)

Occasionally one finds a bibliographic database which can only deal with
monographs, journal articles, and essays in edited works. Ignore them. They
assume too much about the nature of your research.

Flexibility

If a bibliographic database is to be useful to a wide range of users (i.e.
not just sections of the academic community such as medicine or sociology or
history) then the user should be able to customize the package in certain key
areas to conform the package to the user's own research area and the citation
demands of the user's subject community. The following key areas are a good
start:

adding or customising of reference types (e.g. add a type for manuscripts
and other documents of the pre-print era)

adding or customising of fields within reference types (e.g. decide that
the field 'journal abbreviation' is redundant and a field for 'published
reviews' would be more useful)

adding of further style formats and editing of existing ones (e.g. style
for Computers & Texts or style to print out all references by
keyword heading, or changing the way in which it formats references in HTML)

customising how the software formats citations within the text and
footnotes as well as in the final bibliography

Humanities

When looking to use a personal bibliographic database for research within
the humanities it is worth spending some time considering the range of
bibliographic material with which you will work, sources from which it comes
(especially the electronic sources), the range of styles in which it is cited
(short citations in footnotes, full bibliography, possibly in-text citations,
different journals and publications styles demanded). In addition, it is worth
considering the usefulness of the following features which are often
particularly relevant to humanities research:

Will the package easily download references from external databases or
easily convert downloaded references for importing into the personal database?
(look particularly for Z39.50 capability)

Do the record-types reflect the types of publications consulted and cited
in the humanities?

Do the records include fields for electronic sources?

Is it able to handle common humanities citation styles (or can styles be
easily adapted)?

Does it output HTML or provide an easy and cross-platform means of sharing
a bibliography?

Comparative reviews

The following are useful online sites for comparative reviews of
bibliographic packages (with links to demonstration copies):

Description: Biblioscape 3.3 can import references from web-based
bibliographic databases and library catalogues directly into its database.
Beside a powerful set of features for editing, exploring, filtering and sorting
records Biblioscape allows its user to directly publish their databases on the
web from a PC permanently connected to the Internet. This feature allows other
users to remotely browse the collection or, if it is desired, to add or modify
records - a very useful feature for scholars involved in collaborative
projects. Using the 'BiblioSidekick' tool whilst word-processing, references
can be dragged and dropped from a small floating window directly into
documents. The pre-defined output styles offered by Biblioscape include MLA,
Chicago and APA - most of those offered are for scientific journals - but it
offers the tools to add more.

Notes: Includes reasonably powerful filter utilty for importing
records. Has a reasonably full set of publication types and the possibility of
including URLs. The available styles have a heavy bias towards the sciences but
does include a style creator. Includes HTML output and the database can be
dynamically served over the Web. Can be integrated into Word/WordPerfect and
cross-references to documents can be added to references. Well worth
considering.

Name: Bookends
Plus 5

Platform: MacOS

Description: Bookends offers a flexible, and sophisticated means of
saving, retrieving and formatting references for bibliographies or footnotes.
Additionally, files referenced in the database, such as images, movie clips,
text files and web pages can be displayed or opened from within the database.
Bookends contains an add-in for Microsoft Word 6 and Word 98 which lets the
user access and cite from the database directly from within the word processor.
Chicago, MLA and APA styles are represented and also HTML output. With
password-controlled access Bookends' bibliographical databases can be searched
remotely through the Web. It is also possible, by means of a form, to allow
users to add references to a Bookends database through the Web.

Notes: Has no capability to directly search online databases but
users can create import filters. Styles are weighted towards the sciences
though new formats can be created. Unknown range of publication types but there
is the possibility of entering URLs.

Name: Bookwhere2000
v.3.0

Platform: Windows

Description: BookWhere 2000 is software for multiple searching of
library catalogues and bibliographic databases supporting the Z39.50 protocol.
BookWhere 2000 comes with an extensive list of library catalogues and other
databases categorized by country to which the user can connect. In addition,
new connections can be created or connection files downloaded from the
BookWhere distributor's site. BookWhere will allow the user to search by a
range of fields including author, title, subject heading, and other fields as
available. Complex searches can be execute by using a Boolean-like combination
of fields. The full record is available for each hit retrieved and records can
be exported in the following formats for later importing into a personal
bibliographic database: tab-delimited, ASCII, Procite, Refer. It will also
export records in MARC format for integration with a library catalogue or
similar.

Description: Citation 7 uses an index card metaphor for the entry of
bibliographic references. The data types include manuscript record, legal case
studies, and interview transcripts as well as the more standard types. Citation
7 comes with over 1,000 citation styles and a custom format creator which is
easy to use. There is also a data conversion module for importing records from
external databases. Citation 7 can be integrated into the latest versions of
both Word and WordPerfect. Datafiles are stored as text files and Citation 7
also comes with a spell-check utility. Compatible with Bookwhere 2000 for
direct searching of Z39.50-based databases.

Price: £85.00 (or £61.00 if downloaded from the Web without
printed manuals).

Notes: Does not directly download from external databases. Comes with
an import filter for BIDS and a tool for creating new conversion formats (from
pretty highly structured data). Has a full set of publication types though
records cannot be customised. Fields included for Web, telnet, gopher, and
electronic journal sources. Outputs basic HTML and demo version includes MLA
and MHRA styles. Worth considering.

Name: EndNote
3.0.1

Platform: Windows, Mac

Description: Integrates three key bibliographical tasks within the
one package: the searching of remote bibliographical databases on the Internet;
the organisation of references in a database, and the creation of
bibliographies. EndNote can be fully integrated with Word and other Windows
word-processing software. Documents can be scanned and shorthand citations
expanded and complete bibliographies created. EndNote libraries created on
different platforms are compatible with each other.

Notes: Uses Z39.50 to search and retrieve records from online library
catalogues and databases directly. Has a fairly full range of publication types
with field for URL and customisable fields. Limited range of humanities styles
delivered with product but excellent support provided via the publisher's Web
site and an email discussion forum. Will output in HTML and will work with
Reference Web Poster for sharing databases over the Web.

Name: Library
Master

Platform: DOS (Win95 version
under development)

Description: Library Master, originally developed by a theology
academic, has certain features which may be attractive to humanities users: it
can handle up to 50 different user-defined record types, with 25 pre-set
suggestions (such as manuscript and unpublished collections), any of which can
be altered by users to suit their needs; it enables the production of formatted
bibliographies in many widely-used humanities styles. Databases for research
notes and mailing lists can also be designed, and it will automatically format
bibliographic footnotes. Some import facilities are provided. The Windows
version of Library Master will incorporate web-related features such as URLs in
records, HTML output, and compatibility with BookWhere 2000 for direct
searching of Z39.50-compliant libraries and databases.

Description: Although a Dos package on a PC Papyrus is designed to
integrate with Windows applications. The package remains popular since it is
relatively inexpensive (assisted by a CHEST agreement). Like the other major
bibliographic packages Papyrus allows data entry according to publication type,
provides searching and sorting of records (including hierarchical keywords),
imports records downloaded from external databases (and the distributor's site
contains a number of freely available import filters), and formats
bibliographies in a range of customizable styles apart from, and within
standard word-processing software. Papyrus can also scan word-processed
documents for citations.

Price: Available through CHEST site licence deal with single licences
costing £14.00 (+media and documentation). Non-CHEST single copies:
£79.00.

Notes: Suffers from a DOS interface which is not always intuitive.
The Mac version is still relatively recent. Cannot directly search online
databases though will import records in Refer format (making it compatible with
BookWhere).

Name: Procite
4

Platform: Windows, MacOS

Description: Procite, like EndNote, catalogues bibliographic
information about a range of types and from a range of sources. Procite does
not directly search online databases but can be used in conjunction with
Bookwhere 2000. A particular strength of Procite is its searching and sorting
cabilities including the ability to output bibliographic subsets and save
search queries. ProCite for Windows also includes 'NetCite', which allows the
user to catalogue and index Internet-based information.

Notes: Available with Biblio-Link II which assists in the creation of
import filters for external databases. Contains a full set of publication types
and URLs can be recorded. Currently comes with only 30 pre-defined styles
though user can build further styles. Can output in HTML.

Name:Reference Web Poster

Platform: Windows

Description: Make available ProCite and EndNote databases on the Web.
Anyone with a Web browser can access your database and search one or more
databases simultaneously. Requires a PC running a Web server.